Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Out There Screaming by Jordan Peele, John Joseph Adams

8 reviews

bg_oseman_fan's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

a great mix of stories. i felt intrigued by almost all of the stories. as a fan or jordan peele’s other works, i was primed to like this anthology, and it delivered. some of the stories will stick with me for a while. i appreciated the variety of subject matter and types of horror. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident

Minor: Child death, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

taleofabibliophile's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Ableism, Racial slurs, and Sexual assault

Minor: Domestic abuse, Self harm, Suicide, and Vomit

ruthypoo2's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This a collection of very striking and what feel like deeply personal stories. All of them are a fresh take on old tropes with history woven into the narrative of many stories. There’s also a lot of social commentary presented in a surprisingly subtle tone, but it’s not like any punches are being pulled from the message most readers will receive. Such a wonderfully diverse variety of voices and topics- there’s easily something to satisfy a wide variety of audiences.

A lot of the stories are so memorable because of a broken-hearted emotion and/or family devotion that permeates. I have to say, at least on this reading, these are the stories that really landed for me, though there’s something truly innovative and captivating about every story. 

Eye and Tooth
Lasiren
A Grief of the Dead
Dark Home (one of the most creepy)
Flicker (disorienting)
Your Happy Place
Hide and Seek

I listened to the audiobook and there was at least one unique performer per story. I say performer instead of narrator because it feels like the narrators embody the intention of every story and they were all superb.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, and Alcohol

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Slavery, Police brutality, Medical content, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

vixenreader's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

A smorgasbord of the best voices in Black Horror, there is a variety of stories that focus on a diverse set of fears. Even the stories that I was not entirely enthralled with were still  impressive. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexism, Vomit, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Slavery, Dementia, Kidnapping, War, and Deportation

The trigger warnings are numerous and featured in specific stories.

the_vegan_bookworm's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

Like most anthologies, there were stories I liked a lot ("The Rider" and "Your Happy Place" being particular favourites) and ones I wasn't so keen on. Unfortunately, I felt a lot of the stories fell on a more under-developed end of the spectrum despite having really great premises. I also think I would have made changes to the order the stories were presented in, as some transitions from one story to another felt random instead of adding to the collection's overall narrative.

With this said, there is a great range of diversity in these stories and a lot that a horror fan would enjoy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Police brutality, and Murder

booksthatburn's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

OUT THERE SCREAMING is an excellent collection of horror tales from a Black lens. Most of the stories are set in some version of the United States, and many deal either explicitly or implicitly with the distinctly American flavors of racism and anti-Blackness which are deeply imbedded in this country. Many of them come at it sideways, it's the water in which they swim but it's not the focus of their story, if its referenced at all. 

I love "Reckless Eyeballing" by N.K. Jemisin for its sharp characterization and disturbingly literal execution of a titular pun. It's a great choice for opening the anthology. The ending of "Eye & Tooth" by Rebecca Roanhorse genuinely surprised me, and was well-placed to adjust my expectations of how ideas of monstrosity might play out through the collection. I appreciate "Invasion of the Baby Snatchers" by Lesley Nneka Arimah because pregancy is a triggering topic for me and one of the few ways I can comfortably engage with it is through horror. "The Aesthete" by Justin C. Key uses the language of Art to present a different and horrific system of denial of personhood and autonomy, making an incisive social commentary without ever stepping out of the story's frame (as the best horror does). "Flicker" by L.D. Lewis is a very cool premise which uses the short story format to great effect (I love apocalyptic stories). "Your Happy Place" is brilliantly layered, topping its own baseline for horror through a recombination of slavery and capitalism, two things which are awful on their own but even worse together. 

The whole collection flows well, don't miss OUT THERE SCREAMING if you like horror. And, if horror isn't your thing, go find these excellent authors elsewhere, as many of them have published work in other genres. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Racism, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Cannibalism, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, and War

“Reckless Eyeballing” - CW for cursing, misogyny, sexism, sexual content, sexual assault, blood, violence, racism, injury detail, police brutality, murder, death. Minor CW for ableist language, domestic abuse, self harm. “Eye & Tooth” - CW for cursing, blood, violence. Minor CW for ableist language, domestic abuse, cannibalism, murder, child death, death. “Wandering Devil” - CW for abandonment. “Invasion of the Baby Snatchers” - CW for pregnancy, body horror, death. “The Other One” - CW for blood, gore, body horror, violence. Minor CW for ableist language, sexual content, mental illness, forced institutionalization, cursing, drug use, stalking, self harm, suicide, death. “Lasirèn” - CW for kidnapping, violence. Minor CW for abandonment, pregnancy (brief mention). “The Rider” - CW for racism, blood, violence, death. Minor CW for police brutality, bus accident, rape (brief mention). “The Aesthete” - CW for sexual content, cursing, infertility, blood, kidnapping, medical content, medical trauma, cancer, suicide, parental death, child death, death “Pressure” - CW for racism, homophobia, racial slurs, cursing, fatphobia, blood, injury detail, animal death. “Dark Home” - CW for grief, cursing, sexism, misogyny, blood, parental death, death. “Flicker” - CW for vomit, blood, violence, gun violence, death. “The Most Strongest Obeah Woman of the World” - Graphic CW for blood, gore, body horror. CW for vomit, violence, medical trauma, animal death, child death, parental death, death. “The Norwood Trouble” - CW for cursing, racism, violence, gun violence. Minor CW for ableism, sexual assault, drug use, alcohol, slavery, parental death, death. “A Grief of the Dead” - CW for grief, sexual content, alcohol, blood, gore, violence, gun violence, injury detail, suicidal thoughts, slavery, murder, parental death, death. “A Bird Sings by the Etching Tree” - CW for racism, alcohol, blood, gore, violence, injury detail, car accident, murder, death. “An American Fable” - Graphic CW for racism, blood, violence, death. CW for injury detail, medical content. Minor CW for war. “Your Happy Place” - CW for blood, confinement, slavery, murder, child death, death. Minor CW for sexual content, drug use, drug abuse. “Hide & Seek” - CW for cursing, drug use, drug abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, child abuse, blood, gore, body horror, parental death, death. Minor CW for excrement. “Origin Story” - CW for racism, sexism. Minor CW for fire, blood, gore, violence, animal death.

zombiezami's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad medium-paced

4.0

As with most anthologies, there's a range of quality in the collected stories. Some were amazing and haunting, others were just ok, and a handful seemed not to understand the assignment (i.e. they were very clearly not horror.). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Police brutality